Thread: flawless high-gloss epoxy finish?

I've been using epoxy finishes lately (as it's sooo much easier than CA), but I'm having trouble getting those flawless high-gloss finishes. The problem is not that the epoxy doesn't cure correctly, comes out tacky, or not hard enough. It's just that some tiny bubble or fleck of dust always manages to get caught in the finish and keep it from being flawless. I have tried sanding and polishing them out (1000 grit then polish), and though this works just find with CA, I'm always left with a slightly cloudy satin finish on the epoxy. It still looks quite nice, but I'm just so fond of that high gloss

So basically the question is: How do I get that flawless high gloss epoxy finish?
I read in the epoxy thread that after sanding out the imperfections, a coat of high gloss poly can be applied and it should look as good as new. I haven't tried this yet, but I will. Out of all the finishes I've used so far, poly hasn't been one, so any pointers, caveats, or particular brands to get would be helpful.

I'm no expert I've not made many scales but the first time I left them to dry, dust ruined the finish. I re sanded and painted again. Then I placed the finished scales on a couple of wooden barbecue sticks and covered the lot them with a plastic box. Everything was fine.

I used poly and the trick is to apply a very thin coat. Don't put too much on the brush. If you do, you can get the tiny air bubbles and the gloss undulates if you know what I mean. It's best to apply more thin coats than even consider rushing it with a thick coat.

Incidentally, this was my second lesson after learning about dust.

If you see bubles when you apply the epoxy, you can get rid of them with a small alcohol torch, been very gentle.

Make sure your work surface is perfectly flat. I spent two days leveling my dowel rods which are glued to a large hunk of high density partial board. Those dowels all have to be the exact same length and cut square so there is no tilt or your finish will pool on one side and leave bare spots on the other side. I am set up for 10 sets of scales but you have to be fast to get that many in one pour. Get yourself a big box, once you pour the finish and are ready to walk away, put the box over the scales to prevent dust spots.

Get yourself some cheap paint brushes, mix up your epoxy, paint on a thin layer to start with. Take a butane torch and pass it over the scales, but not to close. You want the heat, not the flame to hit the finish. That will bring up any bubbles and pop them. I usually give them two or three passes. Then pour your remaining epoxy on the scales and give them another pass with the torch.

I will also take the paint brush and run around the bottom edge of the scales to knock off the drips but that also helps to get the edges even. When the drips pool under the scale, the surface tension will cause a small thick spot above the drop on the sides of the scales. I give them a lot of attention at this stage to make sure the finish is even there are no big drips hanging underneath. I will run the pait brush around the bottom edge two or three times. Once I am happy I cover them up with the box and don’t look at them for another two days. By then the resin is mostly cured and I can remove the scales from the board and start the next set. It is another day or two before they have hardened to the point that I grind off the drips on the underside and seal the backs.

Make sure you use bar top finish, or table top finish, or glaze coat finish; they are all the same thing. It is a very slow setting epoxy, takes days to cure. If I do get a spot, I will sand it out with 800 grit and then top coat it with a high gloss polyurethane to restore the shine, you can also dip the scales in urethane if you a gallon of it, no brush marks with a dip but you have to watch for the drips.

Probably should add all this to the wiki.

I have used this Mirror Coat stuff (not on razor scales) with terriffic results. Buy Mirror Coat - Woodcraft.com

I agree with everything Cannonfodder wrote. The importance of the application of a thin first coat cannot be overstated. That first coat seals the substrate preventing the release of air bubbles into the subsequent "build coats".

It is worthwhile playing around with epoxy finishes. I teach some woodworking. I always tell my students that we learn from our mistakes and because of that I am the most educated guy on the planet. I also say the key to successful woodworking is not the ability to work to perfection but rather the ability to deal with and correct mistakes and unexpected problems. You will learn how to correct problems.

Thanks for all the advice, guys.

I only ever really do one or two sets of scales at a time, and I do cover them while the epoxy sets/cures. But it seems that sometimes a fleck of dust still manages to get in and ruin the finish. If I can, I'd definitely go the epoxy only route, but so far I've only had the epoxy comes out to a flawless finish just a few times. I just picked up some polyurethane so that I can give that method a try as well.

A question about polyurethanes: I was at the hardware store and they had poly's in aerosol cans as well. Just wondering if that stuff is any good? I only ask because I'm thinking that an aerosol mist would go on more even, and without brush marks. Does it?

Originally Posted by cannonfodder

Get yourself some cheap paint brushes, mix up your epoxy, paint on a thin layer to start with.

Whenever I use a paint brush to paint the epoxy on, the bristles come off of the brush and ruin the finish. Any suggestions on this issue?

Originally Posted by Mike7120

Whenever I use a paint brush to paint the epoxy on, the bristles come off of the brush and ruin the finish. Any suggestions on this issue?

Sure Michael, a few options:

1. Use a higher quality brush (but that is an expensive option because the brush is shot after one use)
2. Use a foam brush
3. Use a squeegee (I use a business card for small projects)
4. Once I soaked the top end of the bristles (the handle end) with "gap filling" cyano acrylate and shot it with accelerator to fully cure the CA. Those bristles were locked in by the CA but I made sure there was at least two thirds of the bristles' length free of glue so they could be charged with epoxy and flexible.

I hope this helps.

Brad

I use the cheep stiff bristled brushes from the dollar store, haven’t had a problem. The bristles are stiff, too stiff to use for a final coat. The ‘painting on’ of the epoxy is to make sure you have a good even base coat. With some super oily woods like olive, cocobolo or any other member of the rosewood family, it can be difficult to get good adhesion to the wood.

I give my scales, turnings, brushes etc… a wipe with acetone to clean the surface before I start laying on any finish but sometimes a bare spot will appear. Think oil slick, the resin will run off an oily spot. If I brush it on first, I have a thin film already established. Then when I pour the finish on for the ‘real coat’ it will stick to itself. I let gravity even out the finish. Even with the box, you will occasionally get a spot. If I make 10 sets of scales, I will have two or three that need a retouch. You can always sand it almost to the wood and put a new thin coat of resin on, done that a couple of times as well.

Just to be clear, the brushed on coat and poured on coat are all part of the same session and batch of mixed resin. I do not brush on a coat, let it cure for 4 days then pour on a second coat. Your mystery dust could also be coming from your resin. The mixing cup could have a little dust in it, your mixing stick could have some dust on it, dust could settle on the scale before your pour the finish, dust could fall in the mixed finish and then settle to the surface of the scale once you pour it. There are many ways it could happen; you just have to deal with it which is something that happens in wood working. I figure I did not need that to be that long anyway, or that bead on my turned stock would not have looked good there anyway, so now it is a tapered roll.

O.K., were was this thread yesterday when I did my first epoxy pour. The scales look like they are taking a bubble bath Probably my fault; I mixed like I was whipping eggs and put the air there myself. My technique was good though

They are curred now. Would it be better at this point to sand and then coat with another layer of resin, or do the poly? Or just leave them alone and tell people its artistic license.